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Watch an 11-year-old Prince call for pay rises for teachers in unearthed footage

The 50-year-old footage was found in the newsroom of Minneapolis television station WCCO

By Will Richards

Prince being interviewed in 1970 for a local TV news broadcast
11-year-old Prince gives his opinion on the Minneapolis teachers' strikes of 1970. (Photo: WCCO/YouTube)

Footage has been unearthed of an 11-year-old Prince arguing for better pay for teachers in his hometown of Minneapolis – watch it below.

The footage, from 1970, has been found in the newsroom of Minneapolis television station WCCO after over half a century.

As reported by CBS Minnesota, WCCO production manager Matt Liddy found footage of local residents being interviewed about the the 1970 teachers’ strike in Minneapolis while researching a related story.

When he found the footage of Prince, he says, he “immediately just went out to the newsroom and started showing people and saying, ‘I’m not gonna tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?’”

The audio was then restored to the footage, with a childhood friend of Prince confirming that it was indeed the Purple One being interviewed.

“I think they should get a better education too cause, um, and I think they should get some more money cause they work, they be working extra hours for us and all that stuff,” 11-year-old Prince tells the camera in the unearthed footage, which you can watch below.

Elsewhere, an unreleased Prince album, recorded under the late star’s alter-ego Camille, is set to be finally released by Third Man Records.

The Purple One famously wrote and recorded a self-titled album under his feminine alter-ego in 1986, but the experiment proved short-lived when he scrapped the test pressings of the finished record.

Speaking to Mojo, Third Man co-founder Ben Blackwell confirmed that the label are now gearing up to let the world hear ‘Camille’ for the first time.

“We’re finally going to put it out,” Blackwell said, explaining he received permission from the late singer’s estate: “Prince’s people agreed – almost too easy.”

Last year saw Prince’s estate release an unheard demo version of ‘Do Me, Baby’ from 1979 to mark the 40th anniversary of the singer’s ‘Controversy’ album.

The album was originally released on October 14, 1981.